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"I am forever sorry for what I have done," said 23-year-old Kyle Marcoux. "You can believe this will be a stain on my heart and soul forever."

Mr. Marcoux was sentenced Feb. 4 to seven years after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2011 death of Tyson Henry. Mr. Henry, 22, was stabbed in the neck after tensions boiled over at a Canada Day party in Pickering.

Relatives and friends of both young men were present for Monday's hearing. The sounds of weeping echoed throughout the Oshawa courtroom as Mr. Henry's loved ones read victim impact statements into the record. They described a vibrant, loving young man who was trying to calm inebriated combatants when he was struck down.

"This was indeed a wicked act," said Sommerville Henry, the young man's grandfather. "I do not seek vengeance. But I do seek justice."â?¨ Tammetha Wilson, the slain man's mother, sobbed as she remembered her only son and the "nightmare" of his violent death.

"He had a beautiful light in him," Ms. Wilson said of the young man who would have turned 24 on Jan. 24.

"I do not seek sympathy," she said. "I just came to speak the truth."

Reading from an agreed statement of facts, prosecutor Lori Anne Turner said Mr. Marcoux and Mr. Henry had both been drinking heavily when they encountered one another at a Canada Day party in Pickering. They wound up on opposing sides as disputes between groups of young men erupted into fights, with a knife being drawn at one point, court heard.

It was after the party had been shut down the two young men met up again, in the vicinity of Colmar Avenue and Parkham Crescent, court heard. Mr. Henry was trying to guide his group away from further disputes when Mr. Marcoux approached and plunged a knife into his neck.

Mr. Henry was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Mr. Marcoux was charged with second-degree murder in August 2011.

Mr. Marcoux, a drywaller, said he pleaded guilty to manslaughter to accept responsibility for his actions.

"Tyson didn't deserve to die," he said. "No matter what I do or say, I can never make any of this better.

"God knows how much I wish I could."

Mr. Marcoux's eyes were blackened Monday, the legacy of a beating his lawyer, Emily Lam, said he was subjected to after being taken into custody following his guilty plea Jan. 25. The attack was "retribution" for his role in Mr. Henry's death, Ms. Lam said.

Ontario Court Justice Susan MacLean accepted a joint submission on sentence from the Crown and defence. She called the sentence -- seven years minus 10 months credit for pretrial custody -- appropriate.

The judge warned against further vigilante justice.

"This is a tragic day for everybody," the judge said. "A life was taken in an instant."

Jeff Mitchell is the justice reporter for Metroland Media Group in Durham Region, Ontario.